


Balancing Your Rack

by storyspinner70



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Fluff, M/M, SPN Spring Fling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-24 03:58:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14347521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storyspinner70/pseuds/storyspinner70
Summary: My gift to marietwist for the 2018 SPN Spring Fling.The prompts I chose of hers were: J2 and Redamancy.





	Balancing Your Rack

Jared knows he acts goofy and silly. A lot. He does it on purpose. It helps him stave off some of his depression and, perhaps best of all, it means people often underestimate him.  
  
It’s not that people think he’s not smart, necessarily. They just think he has things he prefers to think about than, say, scientific pursuits or literature. More physical things, like working out or sports. Things like his bar or Jensen’s beer. That has often worked to his advantage.  
  
He loves the look of shock on his friend and acquaintances faces when he knows something they think he wouldn’t or wins a game they would have never thought he knew how to play – like chess or Words with Friends. He’s a killer at Words with Friends. Misha learned that the hard way. Jared doesn’t think he’ll ever underestimate Jared again.  
  
In point of fact, Words with Friends was one of Jared’s favorite games, but he does prefer Scrabble with an actual board, if he’s honest. He and Jensen have running games in their trailers. There’s a board set up in both, so no matter where they are, they can play. The one in Jensen’s trailer is about three quarters done and the one in Jared’s has barely started.  
  
There’s something about the feeling of the pieces under this fingers that he loves – the slight roughness of the board and the slick tiles make him happy in a way the surface of his phone screen just can’t. He’d tried explaining it to Jensen once, but he’d just stared at Jared until Jared threw a pillow off the couch into his face and started to leave the room. Jensen had reeled him back though, hand tight around his wrist, calling him Helen Keller and telling him to get on with setting up the board.  
  
Jensen was like that. Jared liked that, very much. And that was the problem.  
  
Jared had been offered a read for a new show. It sounded pretty interesting, something he hadn’t really seen much on television before. He would potentially be one of a pair of brothers hunting the things that go bump in the night and dealing with a heap of daddy issues. He was almost instantly intrigued.  
  
And then he’d met Jensen Ackles. Jensen was beautiful, and Jared was in trouble.  
  
It’s not like Jensen didn’t know how Jared felt. God knows Jared had dropped enough hints through the years, especially when they’d been drinking some. At first, Jensen had just smirked and patted Jared on the back. Nothing ever happened between them, but they became something closer than best friends – they became family.  
  
Both Jensen and Jared dated when they wanted, slept around when they didn’t, and kept each other in sight as often as possible. The longer they were together, the less Jensen laughed at Jared’s declarations of undying love, and the more he became speculative, quiet. Jared was usually drunk enough to disregard how quiet Jensen was, but couldn’t ignore the changing way Jensen looked at him.  
  
Jared took to watching Jensen even more carefully, looking for some sign of what was changing, terrified Jensen was getting tired of Jared’s often dramatic explanations of his feelings. Jensen never pulled back, and, in general, nothing between them changed. Every once in awhile, though, Jared would look up to see Jensen watching him, his face blank but his eyes on fire, like there was something...something important that Jared was missing.  
  
Jared was disappointed he couldn’t quite seem to figure out what it was.  
  
**  
  
Jared was heading for a shower when his Scrabble board caught his eye. He slid it a cursory glance to see if Jensen had taken his turn, then snapped back to it when he saw that he had. Jensen had played the word LOVE from Jared’s word EVOLVE. Now, the thing with playing like Jensen and Jared did was that it required a lot of trust. Both boards were open to anyone’s interference – the pieces sitting in their holders for anyone to see. Jared trusted Jensen not to cheat, and Jensen was the same.  
  
Because of this, though, Jared knew what was in Jensen’s hand. The word love netted Jensen only seven points. There were at least two other combinations he could have used that would have at least doubled that score, if not tripled it. Jared couldn’t figure it out.  
  
Jensen was meticulous in most things he did, and Scrabble was one of them. Jared had seen him, his eyes taking in every spot on the board, weighing his pieces like they were actual answers to the troubles of the world. So why had he chosen this particular word? He couldn’t have been in a hurry, neither had made a move on either board in almost a week.  
  
Jared chewed his thumbnail for a moment, then looked at his tiles. Resolute, he started arranging pieces on the board, stealing the J from JERK to make his plan work. When Jensen looked next, he would see that Jared had used the E in LOVE to spell out JENSEN.  
  
It would be two more days before the board changed again. Jensen had used the second E. His word was DESIRE. Jared sat down heavily into the chair. Could it be? After all this time, did Jensen finally believe him? Hands shaking, Jared searched through the loose tiles until he found what he wanted. When he finally left, he’d added ROMANCE to the board.  
  
It was a mere hour later when Jensen sent him a text asking him to meet him in Jared’s trailer. Jared said goodbye to the crew he was talking to and nearly ran. At the last moment, he couldn’t get his hand to turn the doorknob. He was frozen. Swallowing heavily, he finally shook himself free and opened the door.  
  
Jensen was standing by the Scrabble board. He didn’t say anything, and neither did Jared. Jared stepped closer to the game, holding Jensen’s gaze until the very last moment. Jensen had used the ending E to play the word REDAMANCY. Jared frowned. He didn’t know that word.  
  
“That’s too many tiles,” he noted absently.  
  
“Don’t act like we weren’t both cheating these last few days.”  
  
Jared hummed. “What does...”  
  
“Look it up yourself, lazy.”  
  
Jared scrunched his face at Jensen, but did so, pulling out his phone to see what it meant.  
  
Redamancy –noun: The act of loving in return.  
  
Jared quickly checked another site.  
  
Redamancy – A love returned in full; an act of loving the one who loves you.  
  
“Jensen?”  
  
“It’s your move, Jared.”  
  
Jared laughed then, bright and loud and happy. His face was radiant in the filtered light of his trailer. He dropped his phone on the game board and reached for Jensen, mouth still open on a laugh. Jensen smirked back at him and rested his hands on Jared’s hips, tentatively at first, like he was unsure of his welcome.  
  
Jared slid his hand over Jensen’s face and he moved to capture the plush mouth he’d wanted to kiss for years now. Jensen leaned up a little, his lips parting. Just before Jared kissed him, Jensen whispered something Jared could feel vibrate across his mouth. It took him a moment to realize what Jensen had said.  
  
“You know that’s a triple word score, right?”


End file.
